


Tethers to Home

by donutsweeper



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Drowning, Getting Together, M/M, Nightmares, Season/Series 03
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:40:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21853837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/donutsweeper/pseuds/donutsweeper
Summary: Friends help each other out when they need it, even if one isn't aware they need it. And, sometimes, they discover they're more than friends in the process.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz
Comments: 14
Kudos: 202
Collections: Yuletide 2019





	Tethers to Home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [strifechaos](https://archiveofourown.org/users/strifechaos/gifts).



He's underwater and being spun around and his lungs are burning, but he can't find the surface because the entire world's being turned upside, downside, and every which way. There has to be the boardwalk or the sea floor or something he can push off, right? It can't be _that_ deep so either he's close to the bottom or near the top; it should be one or the other but somehow it isn't. It's just water. Water everywhere. His eyes are stinging from the salt but he doesn't dare close them, not when he can't risk missing catching a glimpse of light and light means the sky and the way to break free from all this water. If he just swims long enough, tries hard enough, he'll find which way to go, figure out the right direction. He'll make it to the surface.

Doing everything he can not to panic, he tries to remember what he's learned about the ocean and swimming and being caught up in a strong current, but if there's ever been anything like this in his training, he's drawing a blank. He needs air. His lungs are screaming at him for oxygen and his vision is blurring and it's getting hard to think and somehow he knows that if he doesn't take a breath soon it will be too late. Picking a direction, he scissor kicks, over and over, hoping he's chosen correctly because he isn't going to last much longer. Churning through the water as fast as he can he finally spots light in the distance—the surface, he thinks, he finally found it—but no matter how hard tries, he can't seem to get any closer to it.

He's lost. Drowning. There won't be a rescue, not for him, not in time. He can't hold his breath any longer and before he knows it he's choking, inhaling water and— 

The phone rings, jolting him awake. He's still coughing and shuddering from the aftereffects of his dream as he thumbs it open, not even bothering to check to see who's calling him first.

All he can manage is a croaky, "'Lo?" since he's too busy trying to get his breathing under control to come up with any other kind of greeting.

"Buck?"

What the hell? "Christopher?" Why is Christopher calling him in the middle of the night? Is something wrong? Is he hurt? Has something happened to Eddie? Trying not to panic and keeping his voice somewhat steady he asks, "What's up, buddy? Where's your dad?"

"He's in the kitchen," Christopher replies in that light, laughing way of his and it's only then that Buck realizes that it's not the middle of the night and he's not in his bed, but on his ass on the floor in front of the couch where he'd fallen when surprised by the phone. "He says he's working hard and can't be disturbed but I know he's just making pasta and heating up stuff from the freezer."

Scrubbing a hand over his face, Buck tries to shake off the last remnants of the dream, taking a few deep breaths as Christopher's words wash over him. "Well, pasta's complicated and heating up stuff from the freezer can still take work. There's a lot you have to pay attention to. You don't want to accidentally forget to take the food out of the wrapper before putting it in the oven, do you?"

"You don't? What happens then?"

"It's a mess, trust me. A huge mess. There's a lot to clean up and you don't even get to eat it after all that so don't try it."

"Oh. Okay, I won't."

He sounds so sincere about it Buck can't help but smile. "Good plan. So, Christopher, not that I don't want to talk to you about my kitchen disasters or anything, but did you call me for something in particular?"

"Yes! Wait. First I gotta… Hey dad!" It's possible Christopher tries to move the phone or makes some attempt to cover it before calling for Eddie, but if he does he hasn't succeeded and the shout winds up going straight into the phone and holy shit that kid is loud. "Dad! Can Buck come over and play tonight?" Then there's a loud clatter like maybe the phone is dropped, and Buck's thankful that at least he's saved his hearing some by pulling his phone away from his ear a little after the first shout. There's a low murmuring in response that might be Eddie saying something from another room but it's immediately followed by some rustling and crashing and then the call is abruptly disconnected.

Buck's left there, sitting on the floor and staring at the phone in his hand, vaguely wondering if he's somehow just imagined the last five minutes. It's not that he thinks it'd be likely that his own brain would protect itself from that nightmare by magicking up a pretend phone call, but when it comes to what the subconscious is capable of, who really knows? He's halfway debating checking the recent calls just to prove to himself he's not going crazy when the damn thing buzzes in his hand, announcing a call from Eddie and he fumbles the phone for a second, nearly dropping it in surprise.

"Eddie? Everything okay?"

"Yeah, sorry about that, Buck, I was in the kitchen and didn't realize Christopher'd taken my phone and called you."

"No, it's fine. Is he okay though? The call cut out kind of randomly."

"Yeah, he's fine," Eddie replies, but there's a sigh in there that speaks volumes. "He tried to come get me while carrying the phone and, well, you know how he is." Buck isn't sure if Eddie's referring to Christopher's cerebral palsy in general or his 'I can do anything, just let me try' nature but he supposes it doesn't really matter. "Sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry about. I don't mind him calling me, he's a great kid."

"Yeah, he is." Buck can hear the smile in Eddie's voice now and he knows he was looking at Christopher as he said it and maybe ruffling his hair too. "Anyway, the reason he called was that he was—" he starts, but Christopher pipes up to shout a kind of muffled, 

"I can tell him! Can I tell him?" It's faint at first but then Eddie must have switched the phone to speaker because there's a second or two of silence before Christopher is right there in his ear again, loudly declaring, "Buck! I got a new game and I want to show you how good I am! Dad said I'm good enough I may even be able to beat you!"

Eddie corrects him with a little laugh, "No, I said you might be able to beat him because Buck'll be terrible at it."

"Hey!" Buck protests. He doesn't know what game they're talking about and while it's true there are a bunch he's pretty bad at, it's still kind of mean of Eddie to it point out like that. Accurate, maybe, but mean.

"Sorry," Eddie says in that tone of his that Buck knows means he's not sorry at all, but with Christopher listening in he's not going to call him out on it, "You know it's true though."

"Can Buck come for dinner tonight, dad? We can eat and then we can play!"

"I don't know, buddy. The kitchen's a mess now and I'll have to clean everything up and then start dinner all over again and by the time that's done and we eat, I'm not sure there will be a lot of time to play before bedtime."

Buck's not sure if it's a result of the sad noise Christopher makes or the fact he doesn't really want to be by himself right now, not after that nightmare, but he finds himself saying, "I was thinking about heading out pretty soon and picking up something to eat, why don't I grab enough for the three of us and then bring it over to your place?"

"Buck, I can't ask you—"

"You're not asking, I'm offering. Besides, Christopher has to show me his new game, right? You're not going to make us wait until the weekend for me to play it with him are you? That's three whole days away!"

"Yeah, dad, three whole days!"

"Okay, okay, with you two ganging up on me, how can I say no? Okay, buddy, I need to talk to Buck for a minute. Can you go get the rags from the linen closet so we can get the pasta cleaned up before he gets here?"

"Sure! Bye, Buck!" Christopher shouts. 

There's a second's pause as the phone switches off speaker and then Eddie says, "You really don't need to do this, Buck."

"I want to. I… Eddie, I," he swallows hard, barely able to admit it to himself, let alone anyone else, "I'm not. I mean, it's hard... being here all by myself. I don't really want or, at least, I'd rather not anyway—"

"Whatever it is just say it, Buck."

The salty sense memory of nearly downing comes over him again and he shudders. "I just don't want to be alone right now." 

"You're always welcome here, Buck, you know that." Eddie's reply is soft, kind.

"Thanks. So, uh, what do you want me to bring?"

"Something that works with garlic bread? The pasta might be a wash but at least the garlic bread survived. Oh, and salad. There's plenty of salad too."

"I'll stop by that pizza place on Third and pick up a pie or something. I'm not sure how long it'll take to get to you considering traffic and all, but I'll be there as fast as I can."

"No rush, just drive safe. See you soon."

"See ya."

Buck takes a couple of seconds to go splash some water on his face and hopefully make himself look a little less like crap before grabbing his keys and heading out. On the way to his car he flicks through his phone to bring up the restaurant's app and places his usual order, hoping that with Eddie's bread and salad it'll be enough food. It probably will? Usually he has a decent amount of leftovers so there's a good chance anyway. Also, he figures by ordering it this way it'll be ready for pick up by the time he gets there so he won't have to waste time waiting around.

All in all he makes good time getting to Eddie's and before he knows it the door is being thrown open and Christopher is plowing into him, waiting for a hug. "Hi, Buck!"

"Hey, buddy." Obligingly, Buck holds the food up out of the way and wraps his free arm around Christopher, holding him close. "Hope you're hungry because I brought pizza!"

"I'm starving! Come on in!"

The dinner that follows is nice and Buck finds he has an appetite for the first time in a long time. Once they finish eating Christopher pulls out his game and proceeds to beat the pants off him three times in a row which, okay, Buck hadn't really been trying the first two times but the last one he most certainly was but Christopher's so happy about winning he can't find it in himself to be too upset he lost.

After a quick break for brownies and milk they're back at it, this time with Eddie playing too and he's able to kick both their asses— that is until Buck and Christopher team up and Christopher distracts Eddie by tickling him, which ruins his concentration and then Buck's able to beat him handily.

"Now that's what I call teamwork!" Buck crows, high-fiving a cheering Christopher while Eddie mutters something grumpily about dirty rotten cheaters. Considering the way Eddie's smiling though, Buck doesn't think he really minds it all that much.

"Yeah! Take that, dad!"

"I can't believe it," Eddie moans, clutching his chest like he's been dealt some horrible blow, "my best friend and my son working against me like that."

Christopher's little giggles turn into full on belly laughter and it's infectious and pretty soon both Eddie and Buck are joining in and they all just collapse on the couch, game forgotten, and they're howling and chuckling and snickering and giggling and every other kind of laugh that's humanly possible. Eventually they start to pitter out and in the lull that follows Christopher leans over and reaches up to brush his fingers against the still healing cuts on Buck's face.

"Your eyes don't look as sad now," Christopher says and then wraps his arms around him and hugs him tight. "I'm glad. I want you to be happy."

This kid. Buck doesn't know what to say in response so he just hugs him back for a while. "I want you to be happy too, Chris."

"I am."

"Good."

"But now it is time for all good boys to go to bed!" Eddie announces. "Go wash up and brush your teeth, I'll be in to check on you in a bit."

"Can Buck stay and read me a bedtime story?"

"I don't know, maybe Buck has somewhere he has to be." Eddie turns to him and raises an eyebrow. "It's up to you. What do you say, want to stay and help get Christopher ready for bed?" he asks, leaving the ball in Buck's court. 

"Yeah, I'd like that."

"Yay!" Christopher is beaming as grabs his crutches and heads out of the room. In the doorway he stops to turn around and, suddenly looking very serious, adds, "You need to try to get the voices right though."

Feeling a little like he's a little kid being called in front of the principal or something, Buck gets to his feet and as straight-faced as he can, replies, "I'll do my best," and then Christopher's easy smile is back and he's continuing to his bedroom.

Eddie comes up beside him and puts a hand on his shoulder and together they watch Christoper as he continues on his way. "Thanks for bringing dinner, Buck."

"I was happy to," he replies immediately, without even having to think about it. "Thanks for having me."

"Did coming over help?"

Did it? Thinking about it, Buck realizes he actually feels relaxed and on sound footing in a way he hasn't felt since before the tsunami. It's not just Eddie's hand as a point of contact, keeping him in the here and now so he doesn't feel lost at sea anymore, but it's also his presence— so steady, so strong, he can't help but lean into it a little. "You know what? I think it did." 

"Glad to hear it." Eddie shifts so he's behind Buck, moving his hand so he's wrapping his arm around Buck's chest and pulls him up against him. Buck has this momentary worry that he's reading into it and completely misinterpreting everything because it sort of feels like a hug, and not of the bros-will-be-bros kind. There's so much strength there, such a sense of belonging and home, he can't help but sigh, grab the arm with both hands and murmur,

"This is nice."

"Yeah it is." And then Eddie's wrapping his other arm around him and Buck hasn't misread anything because this is definitely a hug and he leans into Eddie's embrace.

They stand there together like that for a few moments, and it's comfortable and surprisingly not awkward at all but then Christopher shouts from the other room, "Buck! I'm ready, Buck!" 

Eddie laughs and gives him a tight squeeze before releasing him and gestures down the hall. "I believe you're being summoned."

"I believe I am," Buck says with a grin before calling out, "Coming, Christopher!"


End file.
